A mosque is a place of worship for followers
of the Islamic faith. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid
(pl. masajid ) (pronounced: . ˈʤ id/ or /mas. ˈɡʲ id/). The
Arabic word masjid means temple or place of worship and
comes from the Arabic root sajada (root "s-j-d," meaning to bow or kneel) which means he worshipped in reference to the prostrations performed during Islamic prayers. The word mosque in English is used to represent all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately-owned mosque and the larger, "collective" mosque ( masjid jami ), which has more community and social amenities.
The primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as a place where
Muslims can come together for prayer. Nevertheless, mosques are known around
the world nowadays for their general importance to the Muslim community as well
as their demonstration of Islamic architecture. They have evolved significantly
from the open-air spaces that were the Quba Mosque and Masjid al-Nabawi in the
seventh century. Today, most mosques have elaborate domes, minarets, and prayer
halls. Mosques originated on the Arabian Peninsula,
but now one can find mosques on all six inhabited continents where Muslim
communities exist. They are not only places for worship and prayer, but also
places to learn about Islam and meet fellow believers.
A mosque is symbolically very important to Muslims, and is a
humble way for man to recreate pure divine presence on earth. But mosques are
not built according to divine patterns (as is alleged by many other religions)
-- they are simply divinely guided. There are no very clear rules to what a
mosque should look like, indicated in the central religious scriptures.
Mandatory elements to the mosque are that it clearly must
indicate the direction to Mecca
(this direction is called qibla). The indication is in most mosques a mihrab, a
niche in the wall. The area in front of the mihrab must be roofed. In the wall
of the mihrab there can be no doors. As for the other walls, there can be as
many doors as the builders want. There are two types of mosques: the main mosque is called jama'a
, and is the one where the Friday prayer is performed. The jama'as are
often richly adorned. In English, the term jama'a is rarely used; rather
"Friday Mosque" or "Great Mosque" is the common term. The other types of mosque are called masjid, and are local and
smaller mosques. While these can be richly adorned, they can seldom be compared
to the jama'as. Masjid is a word meaning 'place for prostration' and was used
by the early Muslims for houses of worship, even for other religions. Today the
Arabic 'masjid', and the English 'mosque', is used exclusively for the
religious houses of Islam. With the strong increase in jama c as (main mosques)
from the 9th century, the term 'masjid' came more and more to be used for small
and insignificant mosques. Mosques are centre of cities, or of neighborhoods in cities.
This function does not always have to be structured, but can be connected to
mentality, and the establishment of a new mosque often makes a centre emerge.
This mechanism was strong in older days, but is becoming more and more unusual. Very few mosques lie in open areas, and very few mosques do not
have shops and commercial activities in the streets around it. People's houses
are often lying in a second "circle" outside the mosque and the
shops. Other social functions have often been connected to mosques, schools,
law courts, hospitals and lodging for travelers. This pattern is based upon the
Madina mosque, but is of less importance today, as city planning more and more
use Western models. (Source:- http://kanaankanaan.com/)
No comments:
Post a Comment